Dual Shock 2 Review

Share.

By Dave Zdyrko

Aside from the fact that it's not the best controller for 2D fighting games (particularly Street Fighter-type games), the original Dual Shock PlayStation controller is probably the finest that we've ever seen for a console. It is designed so it ergonomically fits into one's hand, has two analog sticks, which happen to come in very hand for driving games and first-person shooters, and has more than enough buttons to meet your needs.

It is far superior to the clunky Dreamcast controller that features less buttons and a single analog stick and simply spanks the hell out of the god-awful Nintendo 64 controller that requires players to move their hands off the controller to switch from using the digital pad and analog stick and has these idiotically small "C" buttons on the face of the controller that are completely worthless for most games outside of Mario and Zelda. Knowing this, it wasn't too much of a surprise when we discovered that the controller for the PlayStation 2 was going to be based on the exact same design with some minor improvements.

The biggest difference between the Dual Shock 2 and the original, other than the change in color, is the fact that with the new controller for PlayStation 2, all of the buttons and even the digital pad offer analog support. This means that the d-pad, the four face buttons and the four shift buttons are all pressure sensitive and have 255 degrees of sensitivity. This is already being used in some PlayStation 2 games to enhance gameplay, such as in Ever Grace, where the power of the attacks are geared towards how hard you press the analog face button on the controller.

It's also worth noting that the Dual Shock 2 is a bit lighter than the original Dual Shock because it appears to have less in the way of gears for the vibration function of the controller. However, this doesn't appear to cause a problem with the controller's force feedback as the rumbling seems pretty much the same, if not even a bit more powerful.

Some people have criticized Sony for not releasing a completely new controller for PlayStation 2 and simply just upgrading the PlayStation's Dual Shock. But, if it's not broke, then don't fix it, right? Well, there wasn't really anything wrong with the Dual Shock, so Sony's decision to just go with the current design and enhance it a little bit was a very good move on my part. It's a lot better than the Dreamcast controller and puts the N64 controller to shame.